Legacy of Heroes
by Okibimaru
Summary: The time has come for the old guard to step down and a new generation of Heroes to rise up. The founders of the Justice league have retired and left it for their protégés to take their place and now a new team of Titans will come together to prepare for when they eventually have to do the same.


At seventeen years old, Damian Wayne Aka Robin, liked to think he had changed quite a lot in the past five years. He had in his opinion, forged a level of understanding and respect with Drake. The two would never be truely friends however they were closer to being brothers than ever before... just less fighting.

The others had all changed just as much as he. Father was now officially married to Selina and although he was begrudgingly admitting it, they were good for each other.

Grayson and Oracle had mended the gap between them as well and had become stronger for it. They had finally realised just how bad they were as people who liked each other and instead decided to focus on being friends. Now Barbara was married to a police Captain and had a three year old son. Dick was also married now, his wife was a singer at some fancy Jazz club that Dick liked to go every weekend. She had also just had her first child.

Walking down the hall leading to Fathers study, Damian adjusted his school bag. The text from Drake had been annoyingly cryptic "meeting in the cave after school, no need to suit up" what kind of message was that? It was moments like this that he remembered why Hateing Drake used to be so easy.

The Batcave used to have several entrances from the Manor However, ever since Alfred had retired things had become slightly more complicated. Julia, Alfred's daughter had become the Wayne Manor's estate manager and as such hired several maids to take up the majority of Alfred's duties.

Being civilian workers, the doors into the cave had been sealed off apart from the one in Fathers study. Now as Damian descended the steps he heard the voices of the other family members as well as the computerized voice of Oracle.

"I'm telling you old man, I never thought you would do this before you hit sixty"

"Sixty seems a bit extreme Jason, even for Bruce"

"You know what I mean Tim, the guy's Practically a... oh hey It's Damian, what up demon Spawn"

"Jason?"

"Right, sorry Bruce" Damian simply rolled his eyes.

"what's this about Father?" he chose to ignore Todd all together and focused all his attention on the hulking figure Sat on the chair to the massive computer.

Everyone was there, All the Robins, Orphan and spoiler too. Even Duke was their, the yellow and black biker helmet that was part of his unnamed costume tucked under his arm.

"we have something important to discuss, just waiting on one more" his father replied. something important? Damian felt a cold chill begin to form at the top of his spine. A calamity that required the bat family to come together in full force like this hadn't happened in years. He vaguely noticed Grayson waiting on one of the launch pad for one of the cars, a small smile on his lips as the sound of an engine blasted through the tunnels. The Car that they had developed with full Auto pilot came into view and when it opened revealed Alfred, he looked good despite his age and he smiled warmly at them all "I do hope you have all kept this place tidy whilst I was away?" he asked in his usual tone.

Dick led the man over to the rest, a comforting hand on his shoulder, Father stood up and everyone looked at him expectantly. "first things first, welcome home, I hope your holiday in England went well?" Alfred nodded at Father before replying

"we shall have plenty of time to discuss that over a pot of tea after you have concluded business here Master Bruce"

Father nodded, took a deep breath and then turned to look at Damian.

"I'm retiring son, both as Batman and as head of Wayne enterprises"

"what? why?" Fathers smile looked sad but content as he thought of his response.

"All the fighting, the injuries. My body no longer can handle it all and that means it's time to step down. As for Wayne enterprises. I'm giving it to you. Mr Fox has agreed to watch over it in your stead until you are out of education" he placed a hand on Damian's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.

"Damian, it will be alright, Alfred and I will still be here" his father said gently. All Damian could do was nod but then a question came to his mind.

"what about Gotham? it needs Batman, needs you"

"Gotham won't be without Batman I promise, Dick?" the eldest brother stepped forward and shook Bruce by the hand "You have already proven your worth as Batman, now the title is truly yours" Dick grinned and the two hugged

"Jason?" Dick took a step back and the second Robin stepped forward but then turned to look at the others.

"I'm giving up Red Hood for a while" he raised a hand to stop Tim who looked like he was about to speak "when Bruce and the rest of you convinced me to come back from being what I became after the joker, I was so set on proving to you and myself that I could do it that I didn't stop to think about what I need to be doing with my life" he ran a hand through his hair then and chuckled "officially speaking I'm dead but Bruce has agreed to fund me as I travel the world, I'm going to see everything I can and find out who I am under the red hood. You all understand right?"

"We understand, doesn't mean we have to like it though" Tim grumbled, Jason gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

"Trust me I'll be fine, besides you, Steph and Harper will be done with University next year so it's not like I'm leaving Gotham defenceless" Duke nodded and spoke for the first time that evening

"I'll be around with the old Robin crew too so it's covered"

"Cass will be around too" Bruce added making the others look over at the newest addition to the Wayne siblings. Cass simply nodded with a small smile.

"So I'm Grayson's Robin again?" Damian asked turning back to his father.

"Not quite" Dick replied, picking up a small silver briefcase from another table and handing it to Damian.

Damian took it cautiously and after placing it on a table, opened it.

"it's time you moved on from Robin" Dick said as Damian took out the suit.

"This is Nightwing" he said in awe. The costume was different to any of the versions Dick had used, black had become a dark grey colour and the once regal blue had changed to black.

"Alfred has been working on it for a good few months, we had him move the compartments back into a belt rather than the gloves and boots like mine, we added loops in the back for your Katana and" he stopped for dramatic flare as he reached over, pulling a bit of material that Damian hadn't noticed "we added a hood" Damian stared at the costume in a look that seemed to show both fear and joy but when he turned to his brother it was with a look of gratitude.

"Grayson, I promise I won't let the Nightwing name down"

The Watchtower hadn't changed a bit even if the Justice league had. Dick had to fight the urge to smile as the other figures turned to look at him, Batman wasn't allowed to smile unless it was to creep someone out.

Most of the Heroes who had founded to league had now retired or unfortunately died, the other members of the league were in similar situations, this was a strangely surreal image.

Clark had retired to spend the resrest of his time with Lois on the Kent farm, leaving Kara to take up the name "superwoman" whilst Clark's son Jonathan was her sidekick "superboy"

both Diana and Arthur had returned to their kingdoms to rule whilst Garth and Donna acted as league members "Tempest" and "Troia"

Billy or "Shazam" was now fully grown and seemed to fit in far better than he had with the original league. Wally had taken over for Barry as the main Flash. several others had also joined who had once been teen titans, Raven and beast boy (now calling himself Wildling) and Starfire.

Dick took a second to compose himself and then using his "Batman" voice, stepped into the room "let's begin the meeting, with most of the old guard gone we have to familiarize ourselves with as much as we can, as quick as we can do it"

Wally Snorted once "wow Dick, you really do sound like him" the heavy tension that was in the room was lifted instantly as everyone smiled, Donna spread her arms in encouragement

"now that we are all relaxed, why don't we start. we don't want Batman to miss the birth of the next Robin" with that said, the most relaxed and childish meeting of the Justice league to ever occur started.

8 years later.

Thomas Grayson-Wayne followed closely behind Julia's heels as she led him from the Foyer to his Grandad's office. He was still unsure about weather he was supposed to believe the conversation he had been having with his Dad the night before. Bedtime stories about how his family were the costumed heroes of Gotham city had started about a year ago but he had never expected his Dad to say it was true.

His parents had after all been lying to him all his life: Santa, the tooth fairy, even the Easter bunny so why not Batman? That being said, his Mum looked pretty disapproving when the stories began and she always went along with dad's crazy stories. Could it be true?

He was brought out of his thoughts as Julia stopped by the door and turned to face him "Are you ready? It's going to be a lot to take in so don't rush" she opened the door and went right over to the grandfather clock. The clock in question had never worked as far as Thomas knew and according to his Dad it hadn't worked back when he had been Thomas's age, the hands forever frozen on exactly midnight. He watched curiously as Julia opened the little glass cover that protected the clock face and turned the hands back one hour so that it read eleven instead of midnight. There was a quick hiss and click sound and the clock swung open like a door to reveal a staircase carved out of stone. "Down you go" Julia said putting a hand on his shoulder to guide him over.

Julia didn't follow him down and he was thankful for that, the last thing he wanted was for anyone to see how much he was shaking. It stopped the moment he saw the cave however.

The cave was huge! Three levels filled with what could only be described as a military base's worth of high tech and gadgets.

The sections were split efficiently. the ground floor had the various vehicles all parked in a way that allowed for them to exit the cave fast. on the second floor was a massive computer, the changing roo and shower as well as a medical bay, science and technology lab and what looked like a briefing room. This left the top floor to the training area and a row of glass display cabinets.

Most of the occupants of the cave were together on the second floor of the cave apart from his Grandfather who seemed to have been waiting for him along with a girl about his age.

"Tom" his Grandfather said fondly as he came over "before we begin I would like you to meet someone" he lightly guided the girl forward "this is Sasha, your uncle Jason adopted her last year whilst in England so she is your cousin" the girl smiled shyly at him and he gave one in return. she was slightly shorter than him and scrawny, Her eyes were green and her hair black. she definitely could look like a member of the family.

He and Sasha looked around in awe as they were given a tour of the batcave they visited Aunty Stephanie in the med bay, Her medical license and degree proudly displayed on a wall. Her two children were sat in one corner that had been framed off playing with toys, four year old Helen and two year old Cole.

Uncle Tim who was Married to Aunt Stephanie was in the science and technology lab with his friend Harper. they had been discussing designs for several new weapons but stopped so that they could explain some of the equipment.

Sasha's adoptive father, Thomas's uncle Jason lent against the table next to the computer with a small smile. his eyes tracking the two children with an amused look.

The roaring sound of several vehicles returning came from the lowest level of the cave and Thomas looked on in awe as the figures of Batman (his father) Nightwing (uncle Damian) and black bat (aunt Cassandra) came up the stairs followed by a man in a black and yellow bikers costume.

"I'm meeting Rachel tonight after she finishes her concert" Nightwing was saying to the biker guy "so now I just have to find out how to tell her, I don't think that "by the way, I'm Nightwing" will really cut it" his companion snorted a laugh and patted Damian sympatheticly on the shoulder

"You'll work it out man I'm sure"

on the other hand his father seemed to be speaking to Thomas's mum on the phone whilst his Aunt Cass smirked beside him.

"what? of course I'll pick up the right flavour, those two girls are causing too much trouble. Your cravings were less expensive with Tom" it was at that moment that Cass stole the phone and said with a chuckle

"no worry, make him buy double" his Dad groaned, a gesture that looked odd on batman and Cass hung up.

Both Thomas and Sasha watched on in muted awe. soon after the return of Thomas's dad they had been ushered back to the top floor and a circle of masked faces had surrounded them. Their grandfather seemed to be the only one who wasn't

"I guess it's time" Red Hood said wistful sigh

"jeez old man much Todd?" Nightwing quipped back

"guys? Seriously? A little old to be bickering like children don't you think?" it was still odd hearing his dad's voice come out of Batman.

"says the guy who still eats fruitloops for breakfast every morning" Red Robin joked causing spoiler to guffaw loudly and Black bat to chuckle.

"Hey, Fruitloops are both tasty and colourful which proves to make you more lively" both Red Hood and Nightwing looked like they were about to speak but a sharp very batmanesque order from the only none masked adult their had them all silent.

"Now then" their grandfather said, looking down at them with a look that seemed to be too analytic to match the warm tone of voice he used "it's time to pass on the family legacy" the circle parted to reveal two of the display cabinets, the lights were on to reveal the original Robin costume complete with the little green pixie boots and a batgirl costume that must have been modified to fit a girl Sasha's size.

"It will be a few years before your ready" Batman said "you will get new suites then but for now" he trailed off.

"Work hard kids" Red Hood said ruffled their hair.

Down on the second floor a loud beeping noise sounded and the man in the biker helmet shouted up

"message from Oracle and Cypher, armed Robbery down at Gotham national museum" all but two members of the circle moved in an instant either going to their work stations or heading down to the vehicle bay. Only Red Robin and their Grandfather stayed.

"So" the older man said as the roar of engines died down and Red Robin led them to the training mat "let's begin"


End file.
